Throne Of Steam

The l.u.s.trous exterior was devoid of any engravings common to other artifacts, as it was common for artisans to carve symbols in order to a.s.sist the ca.n.a.lization of energy.

"Is it... done?" Garett asked in befuddlement, as he was expecting something much more mystical! "That was... simpler than I thought."

"That"s because you weren"t the one doing all the work." The Keeper spat in annoyance, his tone saturated with disapproval. "When do you plan on leaving on your mission? I will finish the engravings later, as I"m too tired to do it right now."

"I"ll leave after you finish it then." Garett rapidly responded. "I"m sure the captain wouldn"t mind a day or two if it is because of the artifact."

"Fine. You can leave now." The elder rushed Garett to leave, obviously wanting to be alone. "I"m exhausted and need resting, so I won"t have time to entertain... any other question you can have today."

I haven"t said anything! I"m only curious about the final process of carving, but I guess the most important part is already over... Garett bowed slightly and made way to leave, seeming very comprehensive of the elder predicament.

"Then I bid you farewell, Sir Keeper."

"Yes." The old Keeper could only snort at his sudden politeness.

Closing the door behind him, Garett walked the labyrinthic cathedral corridors while looking through the large windows.

"It is already this late? It took longer than I realized..." The dark sky greeted Garett on his way out, with the stars scarcely illuminating the earth. And a perfectly round moon hung in the sky, beautiful as a piece of polished jewelry.

The spa.r.s.e street lights shone amidst the thin night fog, adding to the peaceful atmosphere that encompa.s.sed Lhûn every night.

"I don"t remember ever seeing the night without the thin mist layer, but again, I"ve never left Lhûn..." Garett contemplated. His mind was deeply imprinted with the mountainous landscape that surrounded the city, and he couldn"t imagine the world beyond the borders of the mist embraced land.

"Do I want to become an artisan? Or should I just continue to train to become a hunter? None of those options suit me much..." The moonlight stirred deep thoughts in his young and impressionable self.

"Heh. Why do I suddenly feel so wistful?" Garett laughed at himself; even a ritualistic marked like him could feel melancholic sometimes.

"I don"t feel tired anymore for some reason..." His eyes focused on the dark skies once more before noticing the looming shadow of the watchtower in the distance, and without any defined purpose, he began to wander towards it.

...

"I"ve never imagined I would climb up here on my own volition..." Garett mumbled to himself. Maybe because of his arduous training, he didn"t feel tired after climbing the tower this time.

"The view is stunning, even during nighttime..." He mumbled to himself as he observed the horizon from the tower"s edge. The distant City of Altra was brightly lit even at this time of the night, much like Lhûn. He could also observe lights shining in different places of the mountain, illuminating the earth just like the stars illuminated the skies above.

"My mother used to play the flute at nights like these..." Memories of his childhood surfaced in his mind, and he could remember the song very vividly.

"I guess... I know how a flute works." Thinking to this point, he put one of his hands on the insides of his shirt and focused on materializing a rudimentary flute made from a plant similar to bamboo.

"Yes, that"s exactly like I remember." He then led the flute to his lips and started playing, remembering the lessons he learned from his mother when he was little.

A melody filled the night, even if Garett wasn"t a musician, he knew how to play the flute very well. And as such, the music echoed throughout the empty watchtower.

...

"That"s an old song, Garett." At some point in time, an unexpected guest arrived at the place, his steps light and almost inaudible.

Garett paused and turned to look at the sudden company, his eyes relaxing when realizing the new arrival was a familiar face.

"Father Charles... Good Evening, do you know this song?" He asked while keeping the materialized flute to the insides of his clothes, not daring to let it vanish in Father Charle"s presence.

"Oh, I didn"t mean to interrupt you, so please don"t mind me." The priest waved his right hand, indicating that Garett could continue to play if he so wished. "This is a song pa.s.sed down from the end of the last era; it represents the dawn of man and the end of the Carnage."

"I had no idea it was so old... My mother used to play it for me." He paused for a second before adding simply. "Just like her mother played before her."

"It"s good to keep the tradition alive." Father Charles nodded with a warm smile, even if he looked young, he had at least twice Garett"s age.

"What brings you here, Father?" Garett asked as he wasn"t expecting to find someone atop the tower.

"I always come here." The priest answered walked towards the tower"s edge, gently breathing in and out as he took in the view. "There"s something special about this place, don"t you think? You can see the vastness of the world."

"Yes, I think so too." Garett nodded while turning to look at the shimmering lights in the distance.

"I"ve heard Dante a.s.signed you to your first mission, do you feel nervous?" The cleric asked in a compa.s.sionate tone, a tone that had never changed once since the time Garett met him for the first time in his infancy.

"I"m much calmer now, Father," Garett replied promptly, not a shred of hesitation in his voice. "I was feeling very tense earlier in the day, but I think I"m fine now. I"ve even a.s.sisted the Keeper at the forging process of an artifact."

"That"s good to hear, son." Father Charles then turned to leave, as fleeting as when he came. "Do not stay out here for too long, even if we don"t use this tower anymore nowadays, the young should not immerse in the fancies of the past and future."

"Yes, thank you, Father." Garett nodded in compliance and waited until Father Charles"s presence completely vanished before bringing out his flute once more.

"The young should focus on the present, let the old focus on the past, huh..." Garett then focused on playing again, with his only company being the stars and the full moon shimmering on the night sky.

"Hah, who am I kidding? My objective was always to become rich, and I"ll eventually leave these walls while pursuing it, there"s no need to rush."

...

"The Old Keeper chose these books quite meticulously..." Garett studied the writings very thoroughly, occasionally remembering the things he experienced during the last day.

After arriving home, he still felt strongly energized and wasn"t able to close his eyes. Garett didn"t understand why, but he suspected it had something do to with his earlier reflections.

In his energized state, he carefully picked up one of the books and started to a.n.a.lyze the inner workings of firearms and other kinds of objects.

"It"s not uncommon for artisans to forge the item they are going to use. Did the Old Keeper produce that clock himself? I wouldn"t be too surprised..." Every artisan had its own style, and while it wasn"t uncommon to use simple items or something with sentimental value, most artisans believed that using an object from their own creation would better the chances of successfully creating an artifact.

"It"s easier to engrave the mystical markings on something recently forged or something you forged yourself..." It wasn"t impossible to engrave on something after it already became an artifact, but it just wasn"t practical. Garett couldn"t understand why the Old Keeper took this approach, especially when it was completely contrary to the ones recorded on the books.

"Whatever, each to his own. I wasn"t studying this to craft my own artifacts or something like this, at least not now." Thinking this, Garett focused on the recent knowledge he acquired and forcefully materialized a small handgun in front of him.

Smiling brightly, he controlled it fo float around him before realizing he forgot something of great importance.

"I forgot, there is no ammunition..." His smile froze, he could only materialize one thing at a time currently! And the church wouldn"t give him a ton of ammunition to carry around, and for an armament he didn"t even possess legitimately!

"I think I"ll be able to materialize more things simultaneously in the future, but that"s not realistic for now..." Garett had just complimented himself for his sophisticated use of his powers before a bucket of cold water was dropped on his optimism!

While every hunter was ent.i.tled to ammunition, it was on the basis of having a weapon in the first place! If he carried around a firearm bestowed by the church, what was the point of materializing one of his own!?

"I remember Burdren, may the G.o.ddess bless his soul, was able to use energy to shoot. Maybe I can do something similar if I understand the specifics..." That was Garett"s last hope, and if he could materialize something akin to that artifact, the effect would be a thousand times better than the usage of normal bullets!

"Yes, common bullets can"t hurt mutants..." Garett nodded to himself and started to think about ways of studying Burdren"s weapon.

"The weapon should have been collected by the church, so probably the Old Keeper can help me with that. I just have to convince him into letting me study the artifact to understand how it works..." His eyes then fell on the book related to engravings and mystical markings used in artisanship.

Those were the main factors in the creation of an artifact that channelizes energy, and perhaps it was possible to create one even without using a mutant"s soul as a basis.

"I should sleep for a bit, and then I"ll talk to the Old Keeper during the morning. Yesterday was a full day." It was way past midnight, and he didn"t trust the sudden boost in energy to keep him going throughout another day of training without rest.

He felt weirdly unsettled in his own apartment recently, even if he knew the area was being closely monitored by the church, the attack had left its mark on him.

"I should consider moving from here. Yes, it would be good for my mental health." Garett nodded to himself and laid on the couch, letting go of any apprehensions he had during the day.